Is housing reform about creating more housing—or fewer owners?

Why don't we ever hear local housing advocates use property rights arguments in their briefs? Could it be that their call for affordability is really an effort to increase the number of gov't-subsidized renters at the expense of private property owners? Peter Verbica of CCR explores the possibility.

Take a look at the chart at the beginning of this article on California housing affordability: it’s only been 80 years in the making! Behold the obvious: those who live in rural areas are more apt to own their residence. Entitlement subsidies and regulation compliance are more likely to fall upon an owner’s back. The issue is compounded in California. Ironic that a state which seeks to lower barriers to immigration also makes little effort to address the supply side imbalance, isn’t it?

The trend is well-documented in a ftJournal article entitled, “California’s low homeownership rate to continue,” which came out on March 28, 2019. The article article notes that “California’s homeownership rate typically falls around 10 percentage points below the national average…”

The article continues to explain how in major metropolitan areas, the percentage of homeowners can be dramatically less.

And, the trend is nationwide for large urban areas.  According to an article article  in RentCafe, “The population of almost a quarter of the 100 largest US cities has changed from homeowner- to renter-majority between 2006 and 2016.” Articles in the US, Canada and Australia are sounding alarm bells that these nations are transitioning from a nation of owners to a nation of serfs.

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Image by Mario Fiorentino